This site is an archive of ChiotsRun.com. For the latest information about Susy and her adventrures, visit the Cultivate Simple site.
Thank you for all your support over the years!

That Dressed Up Chiots

October 31st, 2018

Lucy, the garden’s namesake has been gone for a few years now. It was sad to lose her, but she lived a long and happy life with us. Around Halloween I always think about her because she LOVED to dress up and go trick or treating with the nieces & nephew. I searched through my photos and found a few to share.













Lucy was a great do, she was larger than life and still lives on in our hearts. We were blessed to have her in our lives for almost 13 years.

Happy Halloween from all of us at Chiot’s Run

Early Christmas

October 30th, 2018

When my sister and the kids were up last week, we celebrated Christmas. Typically, we head back to Ohio around Thanksgiving, but this year we knew we weren’t going to be able to make it. Mr Chiots took the kids out and they selected and cut a balsam fir from the back 40. We set it up and the girls added some decorations. While they were doing this, I was making our Christmas dinner, complete with ham, green beans, and mashed potatoes.


It’s always nice to extend the holiday season out a little more. Instead of a mad rush with lots of gatherings, we end up celebrating them here and there over the course of a few months. The kids loved cutting a real Christmas tree, it was a new experience for them.

Do you celebrate any holidays at off seasons?

Friday Favorite: Fun with Family

October 26th, 2018

In case you’ve noticed, I haven’t been posting this week. That’s because my sister made the trip up to Maine with the nieces & nephew. We’ve been visiting lighthouses, seeing the sights, and eating all the good things Maine has to offer.


What fun things have you been doing this fall?

Babies, Babies, Everywhere

October 24th, 2018

Each summer I try to only let one variety of fowl hatch out little ones. This year, I had a turkey mama that hid a nest in the woods until it was too late to break her off. Luckily she wasn’t sitting on very many eggs. She hatched out 6 turkey cutlets, there are four that have survived (two were nabbed by a raccoon one night).

Earlier in the summer we let two different muscovies sit on a few eggs each. We ended up with eight ducklings in two different clutches, they’re almost adults now and the same size as the adult ducks in the flock. Since the turkeys and ducks more than doubled the amount of birds we had in the coop, it seems like there are birds everywhere.

Add to these the 25 chicks that are now miniature chickens and we have quick the flock living in the one of the coops. All these birds are very entertaining and provide fertilizer for the garden, eggs for our table, and entertainment for us.

What new life are you enjoying this summer/fall?

Friday Favorite: The Old Sugar Maple

October 19th, 2018

We have an old sugar maple across the driveway, no doubt it was tapped for syrup by the original homesteaders back in the late 1890’s. It’s huge, it provides us with lots of maple syrup, and it’s a stunner in the fall. The other day, we had a storm roll through right at sunset. As it moved through and the skies cleared, the golden sun was highlighting the tree.


It was a fleeting moment, it was only highlighted for a few moments before it was gone. I’m glad I got a photo of the wonderful moment.

What are you enjoying this season?

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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